Squeegeeing alternative?

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Whitworks
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Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Whitworks »

Getting close to the glassing of my Prospector. Thinking of trying a method for getting even coverage and penetration for the first (glass laying) resin coat without the squeegee. Have used it before for composite bagging and refinishing furniture and it worked very well.
After quickly brushing on the first coat making sure that the weave disappears and the finish is fairly glossy I would take a good quality paper towel, unroll a layer along the length of the hull and roll it out using a foam roller using just enough pressure to transfer the surplus resin to the paper. You can lift and replace the paper repeating the process and unroll a new strip when the first has become saturated with the surplus resin. When I've done this before I've never had any problem with the glass lifting off
as long as the resin hasn't started to set up.
When the entire hull has been done, a 3" bristle or foam brush is used to smooth the entire surface. When using this method previously I've had no serious problem with fluff being transferred to the resin. If it happens I just tweezer it off and brush it over.
Seems to me that this would get an even coat and saturation in a very short time.
But maybe someone has already tried it and had problems. If so, I'd appreciate the
input before I start.
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Patricks Dad
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Patricks Dad »

I really like the fact that you are thinking of new ways of doing things!

What made you think of doing something different than using a squeegee? What drawback or problem are you looking to solve? I'm not really good with a squeegee so I'd be happy to learn a new technique that is easier, faster or produces a better result.

A couple thoughts/concerns. If you really wet out the entire hull before you start this process, I would expect that the first part of the hull will have started to "kick-off" and get too sticky to allow you to pull the towel off the hull. When I've glassed hulls in the past, I always need to squeegee after about 20 minutes which means I need to do the process (wet-out then squeegee) small sections of the hull at a time (maybe 2 or 3'). This amount of work you can do before you start the squeegee depends on how fast you work, the temperature and the type epoxy you use.

When I apply epoxy, I'm not very even with the first application (before squeegeeing). I only focus on ensuring that the glass is fully wet and the hull not soaking up any more epoxy before I move on. That would imply that the towel would need to be "thirsty" enough to soak up puddles/runs yet not "suck" too much epoxy out of areas where the epoxy is already thin enough. I would worry about extracting too much epoxy in some areas while leaving too much in others. But smoothing ahead of time might help.

I would also worry about "crumbs" of the towel being left on the sticky hull (maybe this is a function of what kind of towel you use).

The volume of epoxy extracted could be quite large and require lots of rolls of towels.
The first canoe we built (my son and I), I kept the excess epoxy that came off the squeege (in the bottom of a bucket full of water to keep it cool). We ended up with (I'd guess) over a quart/liter of excess epoxy during wetout (this is probably more than a skilled craftsman would end up with...)

I'd really like to hear how this goes if yo give it a try.
Randy Pfeifer
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Juneaudave
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Juneaudave »

Interesting...I would be carefull to make sure the glass wasn't floating. Other than that, let us know how it works!
:thinking
alick burt
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by alick burt »

interesting but sounds to me like if I was doing this I would end up with bits of towel in my resin,resin and bits of towel stuck to my gloves and fingers and a whole load of trouble.
I have only made two boats so far and I have to say the second one came out a lot better than my first and i put this down to the resin being warmed in water before I started so it was cooling as I worked.I followed the advice of my resin supplier ( Mike at UK epoxy) and left it alone for an hour before doing any squeegying.It worked a treat and although he also recommended that If I went over the final coat with the squeegy at the right time i could avoid having to sand it completely I chickened out because I was already happy with the result.In short I think I am a squeegy convert now but would still be interested to see how you get on.
Here are some pics of my two efforts.Cheers AlickImageImage
Whitworks
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Whitworks »

Appreciate the responses. Lots to mull over before I go squeegee or not. Won't be on it for a few days but will keep you posted when things pick up again.
Mark
Whitworks
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Whitworks »

Gotta tell you that I'm really quite happy with the way the glass went down without using a squeegee. Only thing different from my original post is that I was able to put quite a bit of pressure on the paper towelling with the foam roller which, I think, helped maintain a more consistent resin thickness without blotting up too much.

I tried the sqeegee and found I was removing too much or not enough resin and it was taking too long to get it right. That would change with practice I'm sure. However, As it was, using Scott shop towels in 4' to 5' strips, it took me comfortably less than an hour to get evenly saturated glass on my Prospector with a consistent weave texture/luster finish, after tipping off with a 4" foam brush.

Mark
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Glen Smith
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Glen Smith »

That's good news! Got any photos of the glassed surface?
Whitworks
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Whitworks »

Sure do. Just have to figure out a way of getting it here :thinking
Mark
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Glen Smith
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Glen Smith »

There is a method explained in the FAQ's.
Whitworks
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Whitworks »

Image

This is what she looked liked after rolling the surplus resin off and tipping over with a 4" foam brush.

Mark
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Patricks Dad
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Patricks Dad »

This looks awesome! I think you're on to something here! Thanks for sharing the technique.
Randy Pfeifer
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Glen Smith
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by Glen Smith »

Mark, you should patent that technique!
sedges
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backyard peel-ply

Post by sedges »

I like this creativity. This is a backyard version of peel-ply or a high tech release fabric. They are usually used in vacuum bagging fabric/resin composites, but can be used in a squeegeeing process as well. Resin moves through the fabric when squeegeeing. The difference is that the release fabric remains on until the resin hardens and peels off easily leaving a wonderful surface to add those epoxy resin resin coatings. I'm sure the paper towel version is much cheaper. A great idea. Thank you for sharing!
SevenTenths
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by SevenTenths »

Whitworks,
Thank you very much for this tip. I was considering light weight peel ply for my interior lam but after seeing your pics, I'll definitely save some money and use paper towels (peel ply starts at about 4-5 bucks yard if memory serves)


sinc,
darren
SevenTenths
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Re: Squeegeeing alternative?

Post by SevenTenths »

Actually, FGsupply has it for $3.40 yd for small orders, but a penny saved ...
http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product ... gging.html
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